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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Going Home: DIY Chandelier Makeover

One of the first things I noticed when I walked into my sister's new home was the chandelier that is the topic of this post. It was a classic piece, grand, detailed and oozing with potential. My sister saw it as dusty, old fashioned and trash worthy. Like I said before, the amount of trust my sister put in my offbeat vision was awesome! We hashed out a plan to give the dingy chandelier a new life. I was inspired by a recent trip to New Orleans. That city has got a good handle on bringing modern sensibilities to traditional pieces. Cafes and shops were filled with vintage pieces that were traditionally crafted and ornately carved but covered with a modern print fabric or a coat of paint in an unexpected color. There was a marked nod to the classics and an ushering in of "fresh". We would bring in a little but N'awlins by updating the chandelier with a coat of glossy black paint. Pairing the classic profile with a unexpected color saved the chandelier from the trash heap.

First things first. This bad boy had to be cleaned. Years of dust and grime had settled

on the fixture. I used Windex and a soft microfiber cloth to get it cleaned. A lot of the crystal pieces were barely hanging on, so I had to rewire quite a bit of them.

Next, I used a primer. Seen here on the right. The glossy black paint that I used as the final color is seen here on the left.

I stuffed the light bulb sockets with cotton balls to keep the paint from getting inside and interfering with the electrical elements of the chandelier

This is the chandelier after the first coat of primer.

It took two coats of primer to cover the clear spots. It looked cool white, but I couldn't even imagine the amount of dusting required to keep it that way.

It took three coats of the glossy black spray paint to cover the entire chandelier. If I had to do this project again, I would have looked for a primer made specifically for darker colors.

The amount of detail in this chandelier was amazing. It was a challenge to paint everything, but so worth it!

This was my painting studio backdrop for the afternoon, I couldn't complain too much really.

I ended up taking off the larger hanging pieces because two were missing.

Removing the bulky crystals gave the piece a more balanced look.

The black really stands out against the rich mandarin color of the dining room walls.